Tatarstan Seeks To Preserve Power-Sharing Treaty With MoscowTatarstan State Council Chairman Farid Mukhametshin
told reporters on 20 November that a working group
revising the power-sharing treaty between Moscow and
Kazan met in Moscow the previous day. Mukhametshin,
who heads the republic's representatives in the group,
said that "we managed to convince the federal center
of the necessity of preserving the treaty and making
some amendments." He added that it is "unlikely we
will manage to obtain any major financial advantages,
but we will try to preserve some of the powers."

Tatarstan will reportedly seek to maintain the federal
center's subsidies for solving the environmental
problems in the oil-rich regions in the southeast of
the republic. Extensive oil extraction over the past
50 years has led to serious health concerns for the
local population. Mukhametshin said that after decades
of oil production, Tatarstan has a right to support
from the federal government. He emphasized that during
the talks within the working group, the republic will
seek to preserve the benefits of statehood stipulated
in its constitution.

Parliamentary Commission Chairman Says Tatar-Script Case May Go To Strasbourg CourtRazil Weliev, chairman of Tatarstan's parliamentary
committee on culture, science, education, and ethnic
issues, told RFE/RL's Kazan bureau on 16 November that
following the Russian Constitution Court's ruling
against allowing the republic to implement the use of
Latin script for the Tatar language, he does not
exclude the possibility of disputing that ruling in
the European Court of Human Rights (see "RFE/RL
Tatar-Bashkir Report," 17 November 2004). He said a
special appeal may be filed by an individual or a
public group from Tatarstan, with the help of
linguistic experts and lawyers. Also on 16 November,
Tatarstan parliamentary speaker Farid Mukhametshin
told reporters after the Constitution Court session
that the republican government is not planning to
appeal the ruling.

Tatar Venture Boosts Its Activities In LibyaThe oil-prospecting company Tatneftegeofizika was the
only company from Russia to participate in Libyan
energy week in Tripoli, Intertat reported on 22
November. The company's presentation reportedly
attracted the attention of representatives of Libya's
national oil company. In 2003, the venture -- which is
a division of Tatneft -- won an international tender
for discovering oil and gas in the Libyan desert, and
registered its branch in Tripoli earlier this year.

Tatar Legislators Uphold The Move Of Their Colleagues In Astrakhan And Samara To Balance The Proposed Federal ReformTatarstan's parliamentary committee on state-building
and local self-governments on 23 November approved the
package of amendments to the draft federal law on
canceling the elections for governors, proposed by the
Duma of Astrakhan oblast on 26 October, RFE/RL's Kazan
bureau reported the same day. The Astrakhan
legislators reportedly expressed general agreement
with the document, proposed by Vladimir Putin and
suggested that when picking the candidate for
governor, Russian president should prefer those who
have lived or worked in the region for a significant
period of time. The deputies also suggested the strict
requirement of proposing alternative candidates and
ban on proposing the same candidate more than once, as
well as the possibility of dismissing the regional
leader in case it is required by the legislative
assembly.

Also on 23 November, the Tatar parliamentary committee
supported the proposal of Samara oblast Duma, which
suggested that in case the legislative or executive
branches of power in more than one third of Russia's
regions bodies reject a federal draft, Russian Duma
should have to convene a conciliatory commission
involving regional representatives.

Parliament Finally Approves Draft Budget...Despite the stipulated 2.191 billion rubles ($75.5
million) deficit Tatarstan's State Council approved
the republican budget for 2005 in the final third
reading on 24 November, RFE/RL's Kazan bureau reported
the same day. Similar to the previous year's
parliamentary deliberations, deputy representing
Equality and Legality movement (RiZ)

Aleksandr Shtanin numerously stated during the
hearings that Tatar cabinet deliberately promotes the
adoption of the deficit-containing budget for
obtaining extra powers for handing the surplus budget
revenues acquired during the year. However, the
Cabinet's representatives explained the deficit by
that its is necessary to ensure the extra funds for
cases such as possible slump of oil prices or other
unexpected developments.

Tatarstan's expected state incomes in 2005 are
reported at 43.5 billion rubles ($1.5 billion), while
the expenses are estimated at 45.7 billion ($1.576
billion). That year is also expected to bring a 6.1
percent growth of gross regional product, as 11.9
billion rubles ($410 million) of the budget will be
used for developing Tatarstan's economy.

According to unnamed experts cited by Aleksandr
Shtanin for covering the budget deficit, Tatarstan's
government will reportedly use loans, revenues from
state-owned stocks, incomes from the sale of
state-owned land and valuables, which in 2004 already
brought the republic some 8-9 billion rubles
($275-$310 million).

Before taking force, the draft budget approved by the
Tatar parliament has to be endorsed by president
Mintimer Shaimiev.

...As Republic Plans To Get Rid Of Half Of Its External DebtAccording to draft Tatarstan's budget, which finally
sailed through the State Council on 24 November, in
2005 the republic will reduce its 9.5 billion rubles
($327 million) external debt by almost a half - 4.7
billion ($162 million)

Tatar Public Center Accuse Kazan Mayor Of Boosting Interethnic Tensions In The RepublicThe roundtable of moderate nationalist Tatar Public
Center (TIU) on 25 November condemned the Kazan mayor
Kamil Iskhakov for his efforts for returning the icon
of Kazan Godmother to the Tatar capital by its
millennium anniversary celebrations, stating assurance
in that the return will bring to "destabilization in
the republic," RFE/RL's Kazan bureau reported the next
day. Naming the Kazan mayor, who being an ethnic
Tatar, made these efforts, TIU called him a "traitor,"
asserting that the return will increase the tensions
between the Russians and Tatas and so will the opening
of the Orthodox pilgrimage center, which is expected
to be built for the icon worshipped by Russian
Orthodox Church since the conquest of Kazan by Russian
troops in 16th century. The currently mentioned icon
is the copy of the original Orthodox relic, handed as
a gift of Pope to the Russian Church.

Compiled by Iskender Nurmi

WEEKLY REVIEW FROM BASHKORTOSTAN

Bashkir President Upbeat About Putin's Plan To Let Governors Back To The Federation CouncilPresident Rakhimov said he supports the idea of
allowing the return of regional administration
leaders, governors, and presidents, as well as
chairmen of regional legislatures to the Russian
Federation Council, Interfax reported on 19 November.
Rakhimov reportedly said that Vladimir Putin's
proposal for returning to the past method of forming
the Federation Council is "absolutely logical" because
the council would thus provide "real support for the
president." Rakhimov also noted that as members of the
Federation Council, the leaders of federative entities
would "participate in passing the laws and ensure the
implementation of these documents."

Major Bashkir Plants Reports Falling ProfitsOne of the main industrial players in Bashkortostan,
the Salavatnefteorgsintez petrochemical plant,
reported third-quarter net earnings of 814 million
rubles ($28 million), "Kommersant-Daily" wrote on 22
November. The lower earnings were mainly due to
expenses for renovating its facilities, rising oil
prices, and rising export taxes for oil products. The
daily cited some petrochemical industry experts as
saying that if the prices for oil products fail to
catch up to rising oil prices, other oil-processing
companies in Russia may post losses this year.

Bashkortostan's government owns a 53.9 percent stake in the company.

Bashkortostan Considers The Prospects Of Russia's Entry To WTOBashkir Prime Minister Rafael Baydavletov met with the
official delegation of the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO), led by the head of
UNIDO bureau in Easter Europe and CIS Dmitrii Piskunov
to discuss the bilateral cooperation prospects within
the terms of 1999 and 2003 agreements between Ufa and
the international organization, an RFE/RL Ufa
correspondent reported on 24 November. Within the
framework of these agreements, UNIDO already issued a
special report analyzing the ability of
Bashkortostan's industries to compete with the other
regions of Russia, Russia on the whole and some of the
foreign countries in the light of the country's
possible entry to World Trade Organization.

Pro-governmental Tatar Congress Condemns The Alternative One Organized By Tatar Civic GroupsThe executive committee of pro-governmental Congress
of Tatars in Bashkortostan led by Eduard Khemitov made
a public statement on 24 November condemning the Tatar
civil groups of the republic led by Ramil Biugnov,
which are planning to establish an alternative Tatar
Congress in Bashkortostan in Moscow, an RFE/RL Ufa
correspondent reported the next day. According to
Khemitov, there will be no Congress of Bashkortostan's
Tatars on 27 November because currently there is no
need for such gathering, because there is need for
"persistent everyday work on solving the existing
problems with Tatar culture, which is already being
done by thousands of people uin the spirit of respect
to our own and other peoples of Russia." The meeting
of Tatar national-cultural autonomy in Bashkortostan
on 24 November issued a resolution announcing that the
abovementioned criticism about the civic Congress of
Tatars in Bashkortostan was organized by the public
affairs department within Bashkir presidential
administration.

Tatar Public Activist Wins Suit Again Pro-governmental Daily For The Third TimeRussia's Supreme Court upheld the claim of the
chairman of the Tatar national cultural autonomy in
Ufa, Zegyr Khekimov against the state-owned "Kyzyl
Tan" daily, an RFE/RL Ufa correspondent reported on 24
November. Earlier this year the claim was supported by
the Sovetskii district court of Ufa, but rejected and
disputed by the newspaper.

The Ufa court considered the suit for the second time
on 23 November and ruled that the daily should pay
Khekimov 10,000 rubles ($344) in moral damages for
denouncing him in article published earlier this year.
However the summer 2004 ruling of the court in
Khekimov's favor had mentioned that 50,000 rubles
($1,724) bet paid to the public acitivist.

Nizhnii Movgorod Amdinistration Bans The Rally For Tatar RightsThe city government of Nizhnii Novgorod on 25 November
cancelled its recent approval for Bashkortostan?s
Tatar Public Center, which had planned to stage a
protest meeting on its way to the civic congress of
Bashkortostan's Tatars in Moscow, Bashnews repoted the
same day. Tatar Public Center, which seeks to obtain
an official status to Tatar language in Bashkortostan,
reportedly linked the refusal to an alleged phone call
from Bashkortostan's Murtaza Rakhimov to Sergei
Kirienko, the Russian presidential envoy in Volga
federal district, whose office is located in Nizhnii
Novgorod.

Compiled by Iskender Nurmi

WEEKLY REVIEW FROM IDEL-URAL REGION

Incumbent Wins First Round Of Kurgan Oblast Gubernatorial ElectionIncumbent Kurgan Oblast Governor Oleg Bogomolov and Union of Rightist Forces leader in the Kurgan Oblast, Moscow businessman Yevgenii Sobakin, will proceed to the second round of the oblast's gubernatorial elections, Regnum reported on 29 November. The prognosis was made with 98 percent of the vote counted. Bogomolov came in first in the 28 November vote with 36.3 percent, while Sobakin collected 23.9 percent followed by Kurgan Trade Unions leader Petr Nazarov with 23.6 percent. On 21 November, a Kurgan Oblast court annulled the registration of Bogomolov's major competitor, Sverdlovsk Oblast Legislative Assembly Deputy Sergei Kapchuk, on the grounds that he had incomplete documents. On 27 November, the Russian Supreme Court authorized the oblast court's decision.

Mordovian Congress Opens In SaranskSome 350 delegates from Russia's 20 federation subjects gathered in the Mordovian capital Saransk to take part in the fourth congress of the Mordovian people that opened on 23 November, regions.ru reported the same day. Mordovia's leader Nikolai Merkushkin told the forum that the Republic of Mordovia had an important historical mission to preserve Mordovia's culture, heritage, and language. He said the issue of preserving the Mordovian languages, Erzya and Moksha, is a complicated one in the republic. He also said that the number of Mordovians has fallen by 10 percent in the republic and by 20 percent in the whole of Russia, according to the results of the 2002 nationwide census. In 2004, Mordovian languages were introduced as a supplementary subject to secondary school syllabuses while the history of the region is mandatory. Meanwhile, the republic's State Assembly on 25 November passed legislation on state support for national-cultural autonomies, under which it suggested to allocate 2 billion rubles ($71 million) in the republican 2005 budget for fulfillment of the law.

Hizb ut-Tahrir Members Arrested In SamaraTwo Kyrgyz citizens and one Russian citizen linked to the extremist Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir have been detained in Samara, samara.ru reported on 25 November, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Samara Oblast. A grenade, some 200 books and brochures, over 700 leaflets in Russian, Uzbek, and Arabic were seized during a search. According to the FSB, the group that operated in Samara Oblast included in total 15 people. A criminal investigation has been launched.

Federation Council Investigates Criminal Meeting In YekaterinburgThe Russian Federation Council appealed on 24 November to Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev to check information about a meeting of criminals that was openly held in downtown Yekaterinburg on 19 November, regions.ru reported on 24 November, citing the Federation Council's press service. Senators were reportedly indignant at the reported inaction of law-enforcement agencies. Reportedly, criminal bosses, state officials, and oblast legislature deputies were among the participants in the meeting.

Over 1,000 Protest Sverdlovsk Oblast Lay OffsWorkers of the Tavda Hydrolyze Plant, Sverdlovsk Oblast, protested on 25 November after the facility halted its operation that day and the plant's administration informed over 1,000 employees that they had been dismissed, Novyi Region reported on 26 November. Protesters blocked all entrances and exits of the plant, demanding that plant continue operation and their back wages be repaid. The employees have reportedly not been paid for three months. The plant's owner, Yekaterinburg City Duma Deputy Aleksandr Kukovyakin, told Novyi region that the plant is being closed down because the Russian government has not extended its licenses and production quotas.